New Law Should Increase School Nurses

Associated Press

Updated: 2 years ago.

For the first time, the state is funding nurses based on student enrollment: one nurse for every 750 elementary students and 1,500 middle or high school students. (Photo Courtesy of Anoto Group via Flickr.)

Georgia is among the worst states in the country for staffing nurses in schools, but state education leaders are hoping a new law passed this year will improve that standing.

For the first time, the state is funding nurses based on student enrollment. The law takes effect July 1; it sets out money for one nurse for every 750 elementary students and 1,500 middle or high school students.

It's a vast improvement over the state's current ratio of one nurse per 2,300 students — a number that has Georgia ranking 46th among all states and Washington, D.C.

What's more, the state is also requiring for the first time ever that all money allocated for school nurses actually be spent on them.